Providing electronic control solutions for nearly 50 years

PLANT Control and Automation has provided the mining industry with electronic control solutions since 1968, helping sites throughout Australia make the change from mechanical limit switches to proximity and heavy duty encoder positioning devices.

Today, the company specialises in Incremental and Absolute Encoders as well as a wide range of Inclinometers: encoders provide precision rotational position and inclinometers provide a method for accurately measuring the degree of tilt or inclination from a horizontal or vertical position.

Inclinometers allow mine workers to monitor spatial orientation in an easy and efficient way, eliminating the need for mechanical linkages.

The Til Tix Inclinometer is used to improve operating safety in mobile machines as they continuously monitor the tilt and inclination of the machinery and can provide alarms if equipment is in an unstable position.

Design engineers have found the Inclinometer to be particularly useful for levelling control on site, as they are easy to use and relatively inexpensive to install compared to other encoders on the market.

Some of its many advantages include: high accuracy ranging from 0.1 degrees and a resolution of 0.01 degrees; extensive measurement range of 80 degrees (dual axis) horizontal or 360 degrees (single axis) vertical, and its analogy interfaces, current and voltage and a range of serial protocols.

The extensive range of rotary encoder models is available using both optical and magnetic principles of operation; the new range of heavy duty magnetic encoders is particularly robust, as the sealing complies with IP69K standard and they have an operating temperature range from minus 40 to more than 85 degrees centigrade.

There is also a wide range of industrial protocols to choose from including several industrial Ethernet options.

In addition to the measuring transducers there is also a range of instruments used for processing the information, including incremental encoder expanders; one encoder input to two or more encoder outputs; converting, for example, SSI to analog or parallel; or simply displaying the data produced by the encoders or inclinometers.